Prints Projection for Spring/Summer ’19: Playing on the Dynamic Edge of Moodier Tones and Mosaic of Motifs

Sweeping aside the sudden influx of minimalism that was significant in the first decade of the century, prints slammed through the runways once again as the era goes towards opulence and decadence. Not just limited to the four major runways of fashion capitals Milan, Paris, New York and London, prints were a major trend for Spring/Summer 2019 for smaller yet impactful fashion weeks such as Copenhagen, India and Stockholm too.

The sudden rise of vacation, easy-breezy bohemian kind of lifestyle is remoulding the way consumers dress up as their wardrobes conform to a more comfortable routine now. The prints are thus a go-to destination for the fashion enthusiasts as they come in with a promise of casual-yet-chic attire but with a dynamic burst of colours.

The growing popularity of prints also bode well for the apparel manufacturing side of the industry with garment printing being the field where various techniques are being tried and tested to suit the changing demands of the consumers. Thus, planning assortments according to the trends in-vogue is a safe bet to play for the market stakeholders.

This season saw prints take a moodier form to balance the outburst of colours, thus giving rise to darker motifs such as clean geometrical lines, paisleys and animal prints. The print-on-print trend was reimagined to give rise to prints that were a mixture of two or more differentiating styles, as checks were superimposed with tropical and floral motifs placed together with paisleys and wording. The prints this year showed activity, as the contrast of dark and bright played well with the semi-formal silhouettes that the ongoing trend of reimagined suiting is providing.

Here is our edit of the print trends for Spring 2019.

Moody Florals

Once Spring breaks through the market, the stores are flooded with florals as the consumers have the tendency to relate season with them. Yet, the vivacious trend steered away from its brilliant, colourful characteristic as florals were now seen taking moodier tones, with darker backdrops contrasting against vivid and bright flora.

Simone Rocha combined prints with embroidered details to place ruby red and lush yellow florals over retro silhouettes and veiled hats, Anna Sui effectively used florals over silk dresses, day suits, skirts and scarves, predominantly over silk fabrics. Rodarte stuck to its effortlessly feminine signature as its florals took us through a walk in the park with striking whites set against purple and blues which fell in line with Stella McCartney’s blue and black rose motifs.

Animal Prints in Vogue

Burberry, Gucci, Philosophy di Lorenzo, Roberto Cavalli and Rochas

Animal prints have a way of emerging every season but in different styles, whether in colour, silhouettes or even structure. Animal prints of motifs in varying colours and sizes were juxtaposed together as runways saw cheetah prints placed strategically amongst panels of zebra stripes. Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty show underscored this mixing of wild and subtle accounts of animal prints just as Roberto Cavalli did, with differently sized cheetah prints.

Snakeskin patterns were a major hit this season as they showed up in the side seams of voluminous dresses, all over on the sheer vests layered in faux furs or in several accessories such as tights-sandals and hats. Gucci and Tod’s were the forerunners when it came to using this particular motif on their lines while Burberry, under the creative helm of Riccardo Tisci, experimented with fun animal prints such as the Dalmatian and tiger print.

Tie-and-Dye Breeze

MSGM, Paco-Rabanne, Proenza Schouler, R13 and Stella McCartney

The rise of the boho-chic trend witnessed the resurgence of crochets and netting and the prints side saw tie-and-dye making a significant comeback. The ’60s were brought to life with this trend while balancing the contemporary times by effectively using techniques that promised modern effects.

Neons, deep reds, retro blues along with subtle pastel and sorbet shades were employed for classic tie-and-dyes which were then layered with block prints and scarf prints to give a look showcasing clash of techniques. Trippy rainbow shades were also used in gradation over flouncy skirts, denim dresses and straight jackets.

Wordiness

Annakiki, Burberry, Dolce and Gabbana, Moschino and MSGM

The consumer is now at par with all the affairs that happen around the globe and wishes to have a more conscious approach to fashion. This proves advantageous for fashion houses and designers that use the runways to stand for a cause or protest against one via wordy prints. This season took a sillier version of slogans and wordings than their counterparts from the previous fashion seasons that reflected political activism and social awareness.

The ones that stuck to the minds of fashion enthusiasts are Burberry’s ‘WHY DID THEY KILL BAMBI’ and ‘RETIRED AND LOVING IT’ by Ashley William. Dolce & Gabanna used the word ‘GLAMOUR’ over monochrome magazine prints.

The wordings took the form of narcissistic logo trend with Courrèges subtle skin-tone tights slammed with the brand’s logo over sheers and brands such as House of Holland and Pyer Moss proclaiming their origins through their basics.

Folklore Diaries

Alexa Chung, Chloe, Etro, Isabel Marant and Roberto Cavalli

The folk fashion was evident in almost all the runways as several signatory folk motifs found a place in the designs for Spring 2019. Originating from Persian artworks, the paisley pattern is associated with exotic foreign lands that add a tinge of ethnic fashion to the otherwise urban tailored silhouettes, and thus these emerged out as one of the most used ethnic motifs this season. Etro’s surfer swimsuit and jacket and Isabel Marant’s travel-inspired collection made the best case for the abundant use of paisleys this season.

These ethnic prints had a strong oriental inspiration as detailed coin patterns, intricate rug designs, fine ethnic floral prints in gold and foil techniques were the common sights for this trend. The motif was best used by Roberto Cavalli’s as coins of varying sizes and colours were used to design the entire ensemble of coordinating separates.

Stripes Distortion

Dries Van Noten, Halpern, Moschino, Versace and Victoria Tomas

Stripes are intrinsic to any season’s collection as they have the ability to change the way a garment ebbs and flows. Consumers thrive under the illusion stripes provide with their symmetry, as horizontal stripes broaden the wearers while vertical stripes slim them down. Yet, this season teased this symmetry to give rise to distorted take-on stripes, as consecutive stripes varying in width, colour or even their linearity graced the ramps.

There was a harmonious clash of diagonal, horizontal and vertical stripes among the designer’s lines as Dries Van Noten explored monochrome stripes in bits and pieces, Temperley London paired its architectural print to a spin with diagonal stripes and Moschino placed together contrasting bright stripes in yellow, pink, black and red to create casual coordinated sets.

An Artist’s Canvas

Brognano, Christian Wijnants, Moschino, MSGM and Versace

The print that celebrated the confluence of art and fashion was a go-to for many designers as garments were transformed into an artist’s freehand canvas. The most common motifs were brushstrokes, which stood in solidarity to form a regular AOP pattern or were placed together with other larger motifs to create drama over the garment.

Mosaic of splattered colours, miniature airbrushed patterns, impressionist smudges, freehand sketches or Moschino’s blantant freehand lines that were not just limited to the garments, were the most common instances of this print.